When I was growing up in landlocked Tennessee, our family spent summers in Florida. Our annual pilgrimage to the Sunshine State involved loading up the Country Squire “Woody” Station Wagon to the hilt with beach towels, bathing suits, pots and pans, cooking spices, and groceries. I felt a “Lewis & Clark” kind of pioneering adventure… Read more »
Although Ohio winters can be quite long and dreary, one of the highlights for me is my backyard bird-feeding station. Winter birds with their colorful, cheerful presence can brighten even the most gray, snowy day. A few years ago I tried something new with my backyard feeding station that was a big hit with my… Read more »
Are you suffering from the “birding travel blues”? If you’re like me, you’re at home today daydreaming about distant lands and glorious life birds! Although our ability to travel this year has been hampered by COVID-19, birding and wildlife tours are gaining traction in the year ahead with birders who are eager to “get back out there.” While… Read more »
I’ll never forget the first conversation Bill Thompson, III, and I had about Reader Rendezvous. We had spent a week at the British Birdfair followed by some holiday time in England with good friends. As we were nestling down in our seats for the seven-hour return flight ahead, he said, “Hey, Wen, what do you… Read more »
Sometimes you find a hidden “travel gem,” a destination that’s unique and relatively unknown, and you want everyone you know to experience it, too. That’s how I feel about the Hocking Hills region of Ohio. Nestled in south-central Ohio, just an hour southeast of Columbus, the lush Hocking Hills region takes the stage in full… Read more »
Every story has a beginning. Bird Watcher’s Digest’s story begins with a woman named Pat Murphy. Pat was an experienced birder and a nature columnist for the Marietta Times newspaper. She eventually served as Bird Watcher’s Digest’s associate editor and as a columnist, and she was the leader of the local women’s birding club, the Betsey Birders. The… Read more »
At the outset of 2020, there were seven international birding tours on my personal calendar, and as the new year dawned, I was looking forward to an exciting year of travel ahead. I would have been on the road 185 days in 2020, adding four new countries to my life list, and dozens of new… Read more »
As someone who started birding later in life, I was fortunate to have among my birding mentors professional guides, authors, biologists, and naturalists. Growing up as more of an “indoor girl,” this was intimidating for me, to say the least. I was not only intimidated by their knowledge and experience, I was also terrified by the equipment they used…. Read more »
Biting bugs really love me. I’ve tried spray repellents, electronic repellent thingamabobs, wrist bands—all of it. Nothing has ever succeeded in keeping mosquito-ninjas from attacking me. I believed nothing would—except remaining behind closed doors. Until now. Earlier this year, I attended the North Shore Birding Festival on Lake Apopka near Orlando, Florida. Most of us… Read more »
DID YOU KNOW that Bird Watcher’s Digest will host four (yes, FOUR) unique BIRDING PODCASTS as of July 2020? Yes, it’s true, and we’re excited to tell you all about it! You may be one of the many folks who have entered the wonderful world of podcasts in recent years. There are podcasts about everything… Read more »
